


Home Is Whenever I'm With You

by urdearestmom



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: as they deserve, el is mentioned, this is just me loving the wheelers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28622703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/urdearestmom/pseuds/urdearestmom
Summary: Sometimes she dreamed of monsters.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Holly Wheeler & Mike Wheeler, Holly Wheeler & Mike Wheeler & Nancy Wheeler, Mike Wheeler & Nancy Wheeler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	Home Is Whenever I'm With You

**Author's Note:**

> hello y'all yes i'm back again with another one shot about the wheelers. the duffel bags do not give me enough content so i have to make it myself 
> 
> this was inspired by the scene from s3e7 where Holly notices the trees moving and karen tells her to ignore it but we know that it's the damn monster headed to eat her siblings and their friends!! i thought it would be interesting to explore what might've happened if she had actually seen it given that she also almost got SNATCHED by the demogorgon in s1... holly seems to have the ability to notice the supernatural without getting involved in it. her siblings could learn from her
> 
> eventually it evolved into a bit more of something else, which actually ended up being the larger portion of this lol but this was mostly just an excuse for me to write wheeler sibling bonding anyway
> 
> hope you enjoy and please let me know what you thought!!

Sometimes she dreamed of monsters. A lot of the time they kind of looked like the purple man from McDonald’s commercials, which was only a little scary. But sometimes they were very scary, because they looked like a giant spider. 

A really, really big spider that wasn’t really a spider. She had been the only one to see it even though her parents were right there with her. It made her even more scared to see the tiny spiders that appeared inside her house.

The first time she dreamed about the spider monster she had told her mother, but her mother said that it was only a dream and all the spiders where they lived were very small. She could go back to sleep.

She did, but Holly knew it wasn’t only a dream. She _saw_ it, even if her mother didn’t believe her. 

The second time she dreamed about the spider monster, Mommy came back to bed with her and told her a story about a princess locked inside a tower and it made her forget all about it.

After that, Holly didn’t think about the spider monster for a while, until one day when she was watching TV by herself in the living room while her brother made sandwiches for them in the kitchen. Mommy and Daddy and Nancy weren’t home. The episode of _Jem and the Holograms_ she was watching was just getting to the good part when she saw a little spider with very long legs crawling across the sofa towards her.

She screamed and scrambled away from it. “There’s a spider!” 

Her brother came running in with a piece of paper towel. “Where is it?” 

Holly pointed nervously at the sofa and watched as Mike stared at it for a moment before smacking the paper towel down really fast. He lifted it away and Holly shrunk further into the corner of the room. 

“Why are you so afraid of them? They’re just spiders,” he said. 

“They’re creepy,” she replied. Then she remembered what she saw at the fair in the summer and shivered a little bit. “And scary.” 

“Well, it’s ok, I got it,” said Mike. “I’ll catch all your spiders for you, Hol.” 

He went back to the kitchen but Holly sat on the floor and thought about what he said. Mike was a big kid but he wasn’t big like Mommy or Daddy yet, so maybe he knew about spider monsters too. Plus, he always liked to tell her stories with magic people who fought monsters. Maybe there was one where the magic people beat all the spider monsters in the world.

The next time Holly dreamed about the spider monster, she dreamed about it coming to her house. It didn’t come by itself this time, there was another monster that wanted to come out of the wall. She didn’t see it because she ran away but she knew it was the bad one from her other dream. The spider monster was walking in the trees outside, just like she saw it walking in the trees close to the fair, waiting for her family to come out so it could eat them. Her sister Nancy had a big stick that she was going to hit the monster with, and Mommy and Daddy wanted Holly to hide with them where it couldn’t see them. She didn’t know where Mike was, and she was afraid the monster had already eaten him.

Right as the spider monster was about to smash the window of the room she was hiding in, Holly woke up. Her heart was beating fast and she felt scared. She was cold under her blankets and her room was full of shadows that she didn’t like, so she got up and went to the door. The hallway wasn’t as dark because there was a little bit of light from a streetlight outside that came through the window, so Holly was able to see where the door to her brother’s room was. 

She looked down the hall and thought about Mommy again, but Mommy had already told her that the spider monster wasn’t real. Mommy wouldn’t _understand._ But Mike said he would catch all the spiders for her. Maybe he would believe her about the monster.

Holly pushed open the door across from hers and tiptoed in, holding on tight to her teddy. Mike’s room was full of shadows too. 

“Mike?” She whispered. “Are you ‘sleep?” 

“No,” answered his voice from the darkness. Suddenly, light filled up the room and Holly had to block her eyes. “Holly?” 

He had turned on his lamp and now he was looking at her like he didn’t know why she was there. “What’s wrong?” 

Holly looked back at him. He looked very tired; she noticed. Maybe she should go away and let him sleep. She played with her teddy’s ear. 

“I had a bad dream,” she announced. 

His shoulders slouched and Holly thought he looked a lot smaller like that. “Do you want Mom?” 

She shook her head. 

“You want me?”

She nodded quickly and dragged her feet across the carpet to stand next to him.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” He asked. “It’s ok, you can sit up here,” he added, patting the spot next to him.

Holly sat. “It’s about the spider monster.” 

Her brother was quiet for a second. “The spider monster?” 

She looked up at him and nodded again. “I dreamed about it before but Mommy told me it wasn’t real. Spiders here are small.” 

Mike seemed to agree. “They are. But you said it’s a monster, right?” 

“Do you think monsters are real?” 

He was quiet again, but Holly wanted an answer. If even Mike didn’t think monsters were real, she didn’t know who else would believe her.

She squeezed her knees up to her chest, squishing her teddy. “Are they real, Mikey?”

He made a strange noise. He almost sounded like he was going to laugh. “I think a lot of monsters aren’t real, like zombies. But some are. Real scary ones, too. Do you think the spider monster is real?” 

Holly thought about what she’d seen. It was _very_ real. “Yes,” she said. “I saw it.” 

Mike made a face. “Hold on, you _saw_ it?” 

“It was really scary,” she told him. “I saw it in the trees and Mommy didn’t believe me. She told me to look at the fireworks, but now I dream about it coming to eat us.” 

“Fireworks…” Her brother’s eyes widened. “Where were you?” 

“At the fair,” she said quietly. “Did you see it too?”

Mike got up and went to his desk. Holly stared at him as he got a pencil and paper and started drawing something. Why didn’t he answer? A few seconds later, he came back to his bed. 

“Holly, I don’t want to scare you, but you have to tell me, okay?” He held the paper in front of her. “Does the spider monster look like this?” 

The paper had a bad picture of it, but it _was_ a picture of the spider monster. How did he know what it looked like? 

Holly looked at her brother again. He looked like maybe he was a little bit scared too. 

“Yeah,” she said. “You saw it?”

He took the paper back and covered his face with a hand. 

“Yes,” he replied. “Nancy saw it too.”

Even _Nancy_ knew the spider monster was real? But Nancy was a big girl like their mommy! 

Holly slipped off the bed. “Can we go talk to her?” 

Mike looked at her. “I mean, she’s probably asleep but we can go see.”

The two of them went out quietly and opened Nancy’s door down the hall. Nancy was asleep, so Mike told Holly to be quiet while he woke her. He turned on her lamp. 

“Nancy,” he whispered, and poked her. “Nancy.” 

When she didn’t move, Mike turned around and made a funny face at Holly. It made her forget about why she was awake for a little bit when she almost laughed.

“She’s _really_ asleep.”

“Can we pour water on her face?” Asked Holly. 

“What? No. Why would we do that?” 

“To wake her up!” 

Nancy shifted on her bed and they both looked at her. Mike poked her again. 

“Nancy! Wake up.” He started poking her faster, and then she sat up. 

“ _What?!_ ” 

“Shhhhhhh!” Said Holly, holding a finger to her lips like she learned at school. 

Nancy scrunched her eyebrows. “Holly?” She looked at their brother. “Did something happen?” 

“Kind of,” he said. 

“I had a bad dream,” Holly told them. “About the spider monster. Mike said you saw it too.” 

“The spider monster…?”

Holly watched as a look passed between Mike and Nancy, and then Nancy said, “Oh. The spider monster.” 

Holly walked closer and then her brother picked her up and sat her between himself and Nancy.

“Can you tell us about your dream, Holly?” He asked. Nancy rubbed her eyes and sat up straighter.

Holly didn’t like to think about the spider monster, but she had to tell them. If they knew about it too, maybe they could help her not be scared of it. Besides, Mike had said he would catch her spiders for her and Nancy was even bigger than he was, so Holly knew they would keep her safe. As long as she stayed with her big brother and sister, she would be okay. 

“It was outside,” she started. “Hiding in the trees. And it wanted to eat us, and Nancy had a big stick to hit it and Mommy and Daddy wanted me to hide with them.” 

“Where was I?” Asked Mike. 

Holly shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it ate you already.” 

Nancy wrapped an arm around Holly. “Did it get you?” 

She shook her head. “No. I woke up.” 

Her siblings shifted around her, the three of them sinking further into Nancy’s soft mattress. “Well, that’s okay then,” said Nancy. “You’re safe here.” 

“Yeah,” added their brother. “We saw the monster get killed, okay, Holly? It can’t hurt you.” 

Holly looked up at him in wonder. “You killed it?” He was really telling the truth about catching all the spiders if he did. 

He shook his head. “We helped,” he said, looking at Nancy. “It wasn’t just us, but the monster is gone now, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore.” 

With that explanation, she felt better. Maybe she could go to sleep now. She snuggled into her brother’s side, sandwiching Nancy’s hand between them. “Can I sleep with you?” 

Nancy sat back on her bed again, moving her hand as Mike stood up with Holly, keeping her tucked close to him. “Yeah, of course,” he said to her. 

They looked at their sister from where they stood in the doorway. “Good night, Nance,” said Mike. 

Nancy had a strange look on her face. “Good night.” She stopped. “I love you guys.” 

Holly didn’t look at him but she thought Mike’s voice sounded funny when he said it back, and then he shut the door behind them and led her back through the darkness to his bedroom.

* * *

For some reason, Holly had always looked up to her brother. She wasn’t sure why because as she got older, she came to realize that he was a hardass a lot of the time and also about the nerdiest person she’d ever met and the only cool thing about him was his wife. She was miles cooler than him, but then Holly guessed maybe she felt that way because El had been around for as long as she could remember and she thought of her as a sister. In many ways, Holly was closer to her sister-in-law than her actual sister. 

Nevertheless, there was always something exciting about hearing that Mike was going to come visit. He went away to college when she was nine and never moved back, but her entire childhood was filled with memories of him. She didn’t have a lot of friends when she was little, and she adored her brother because he told her stories and played house with her and took her out for milkshakes and candy whenever he could. Maybe she wouldn’t voice it right in front of Nancy, but if asked Holly would say without hesitation that Mike was her favourite sibling. 

It was difficult to be close to either of them given their age gaps, but Nancy had always seemed less like her sister and more like a cool aunt or something. The one you only saw on holidays, and even then only sometimes. Mike and El visited pretty frequently since they didn’t live too far away and El liked to see her parents often, but Holly couldn’t recall the last time she had seen Nancy. Honestly, Holly barely remembered her, so it was a bit shocking to hear that _both_ of her siblings were coming to Hawkins at the same time. She figured it was probably so their parents could tell all three of them at once about the divorce she was sure they were getting.

Her mom liked to pretend everything was fine and her dad was pretty much always asleep, but Holly was fifteen years old and she was more perceptive than she let on. Her parents could avoid it however they liked, but it didn’t mean she didn’t pick up on the constant tense atmosphere of their house. Sometimes she wished she could disappear off the face of the Earth like her sister seemed to have done, and other times she wished she was seven again, so her brother could take her away for an afternoon of sweet treats where she could forget about everything that worried her.

It was with trepidation that she answered the door when the bell rang, her mother occupied in the kitchen and her father, as usual, asleep in the living room. Her brother and sister stood awkwardly on the other side, having arrived together.

“Hi, Holly!” Said Nancy, stepping forward to hug her. It was a little stiff but Holly let her do it, figuring it was best not to start this visit with more tension between members of the family than necessary. She stared at Mike over their sister’s shoulder, finding him staring back at her and fiddling with his wedding band. Holly knew he did that whenever he was thinking about his wife when he wasn’t with her, but she thought it was strangely ironic given what the night’s dinner was clearly about. She wondered if he had seen it coming, not having lived in the house full-time for the last six years.

Did either of them know or would it be a shock? No, she thought, all three of them had a penchant for knowing things. Wheelers didn’t fake it ‘til they made it; they saw the truth all along and avoided it until they couldn’t anymore.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” was what she chose to say, stepping back to let her siblings into the house. 

Nancy set down her purse and walked into the kitchen, leaving Holly and Mike by the door. She could tell he wanted to say something, but was having trouble making his voice work. 

Finally, he said, “This is what I think it is, isn’t it?” 

Why else would they have asked Mike _and_ Nancy to come together but leave their spouses at home? Holly shrugged passively. “They haven’t told me anything, but probably.” 

And she was right. Over the familiar meal of chicken and potatoes, in the familiar setting of a family dinner that felt anything but, their mother announced to them that their parents were getting a divorce. They had never been the picture-perfect, wholesome family that Karen Wheeler had wanted, and somehow Holly had always known it. She was something like twelve when she realized she had been a last resort, a final shot at making her parents’ marriage work, and her existence had failed at doing its intended job. It made her wonder whether it had ever worked at all when her siblings were young and it was her fault for not being good enough, or if it had always been this way. 

No one at the table acted surprised or seemed upset by the news. Nancy only asked if anyone was moving away and to where, and Mike asked if the house would be sold and when it would be finalized. Holly stayed quiet and picked at her food, her father’s stoic silence as he chewed his dinner glaringly obvious. Ted Wheeler was never one much for words, and she honestly wasn’t sure how she had expected him to behave. Maybe he could have said something; his life was completely changing, after all. But no… Wheelers saw the truth and avoided it until they couldn’t. He’d been a silent presence all her life, why should he change that now?

After the extremely underwhelming dinner and kitchen cleanup duty, Holly was surprised when her siblings informed her they were going for a drive and asked if she wanted to join them. Again, Nancy was the first to leave, confidently strolling out the front door while Mike remained behind for a moment to assure their mother that they would bring Holly back soon. 

Holly got into the back of her brother’s car, but somehow wasn’t shocked that Nancy was the one in the driver’s seat. Mike would usually bristle at his older sister taking charge when he was perfectly capable himself, but Holly could see something was bothering him tonight as he let it go without protest. None of them said a word as they backed out of the driveway. The radio remained low. 

They were near the outskirts of town before Holly spoke. “Where are we going?” 

“I don’t know,” said Nancy at the same time as Mike replied with, “Somewhere.” 

The two looked at each other for a moment before Mike turned back to the window and Nancy to the front. “Always one step out of sync, aren’t we,” he muttered. 

Holly didn’t like the atmosphere in the car. “So I think none of us is surprised they’re getting a divorce.” 

“I’ve been expecting it for years,” Nancy responded, turning onto a random sideroad. “Their marriage was never… the most solid, I think.” 

Mike didn’t say anything. 

“How are you holding up?” Nancy continued. 

Holly stared at the back of her sister’s head, wondering when she became a stranger. When was the last time anyone asked her how she was feeling? 

“I think Mom thought she hid it but I could tell,” she said. “It’s not hard to notice if you actually spend time around them.” 

For a second, Holly worried that that had come across as accusatory, but then decided she didn’t care either way. It wasn’t like she had that much to lose at this point, anyway. Instead she turned on their brother, who was once again fiddling with his wedding band. “Mike, what’s wrong with you?” 

He didn’t react. “Nothing.” 

Holly frowned. “Right. You’re just like them,” she said bitterly, and this time it was _definitely_ accusatory. “Acting like I can’t see through your bullshit. I’m not a baby.” 

She pushed herself back into the cushions and stared daggers at the side of his face. When had he stopped being her protector and started lying to her instead? 

Nancy sighed. “You’re really shit at lying, Mike, you know that? The only reason you hid El in the basement for as long as you did is because Mom and Dad are the two most oblivious people on this planet.” 

Holly frowned again. Hid El? What was that about? “What do you mean, he hid El?”

Mike had hidden his face in his hands as Nancy gasped. “Shit, I shouldn’t have said that!” 

“Well you fucking did,” said Mike dryly. “Now we have to explain it, don’t we?” 

The two of them shared a look and Holly knew she’d been left out of something. 

“When I was twelve, Will went missing for a week and a lot of shit happened,” started Mike. Holly vaguely recalled somebody named Will; a kind and quiet boy with green eyes. He liked to draw. 

“I’ve heard that story before,” she said. 

“Yeah, okay, so… my friends and I went out looking for him and instead we found a girl. That girl was El,” he continued. “She needed help so I took her home and hid her in our basement for that week.” 

Holly was silent for a moment. “That’s gotta be the weirdest first meeting story I’ve ever heard.” 

“Well you have to take my word for it since you don’t remember,” Mike replied. 

She shrugged. “Seems like the only way a girl as cool as El would fall in love with _you_ ,” she teased, trying to lighten the mood. Maybe if she got him in a better mood he would spill. 

Instead, it seemed to dampen his spirits. “I guess.” 

And suddenly, something clicked in Holly’s brain. He’d been playing with his wedding ring all night, meaning he was thinking of El all night, and he also looked vaguely like he wanted to throw up. 

“Is something wrong with her? Is that the problem?” She asked. 

Nancy made another turn and they were somewhere in the woods now. 

“El’s fine,” said Mike quickly. “It’s me.” 

Holly furrowed her brows and she knew instinctively that Nancy had reacted the same way. “What do you mean, you?” 

Mike sighed. “You won’t get it.” 

“Try us,” said Nancy. “We’re your sisters, Mike, what’s the worst we can even say?” 

He closed his eyes. “You know me. You can say the worst.” 

Holly almost rolled her eyes at his dramatics. She’d nearly forgotten that he could be like this. She punched his shoulder. 

“Stop being stupid and tell us,” she demanded. “Don’t be like Mom.” 

He was silent for a few seconds as he rubbed his shoulder, glaring at her. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” he said finally. “Not of being like Mom, but Dad.” 

Nobody said anything as Nancy seemed to have reached a destination and threw the car into park. 

“In what way are you like Dad?” Asked Holly incredulously. “Why would you even think that?” 

He didn’t reply and got out of the car instead, his sisters following. Nancy had taken them to Lake Jordan, for some reason. Holly walked beside her sister as they trailed after their brother. His posture looked tense.

“I’m just scared it’ll happen to me too,” he finally said, after the three had settled into a spot on the sand. “She’s been distant lately and I don’t know if it’s something I did, or…” 

Nancy patted his shoulder and Holly moved to settle her head under his arm like she used to when she was little and he would watch cartoons with her, and she felt him relax a bit. Neither of them said anything, knowing that with Mike sometimes it was best to just let him talk until he cut himself off. 

“I don’t want to be like Dad in that he never noticed when something was wrong with Mom, or with us,” he continued. “But sometimes I really don’t notice things and I’m scared I’m turning into him.”

Nancy stretched herself out. “I never told this to anyone but Jonathan, but I don’t think Mom and Dad ever loved each other,” she said, looking up at the dark sky. “That’s the difference between you and them. Your marriage wasn’t one of convenience.” 

Holly felt Mike tense again. “It’s not enough to care, Nance, I have to know what to do. I don’t know how to be a husband when the only example I had was our dad, and look where that got him.” 

Holly snuggled closer. She wasn’t anywhere near being married herself so she didn’t have any insight to offer, but she could try to comfort him in other ways. Mike had always asked her for hugs when she was small. 

Nancy turned her head to look at him. “It’s not about that either,” she answered. “You have good instincts, and you know El better than anyone. She’s always wanted you in a difficult situation.” 

He shrugged, sliding his feet across the sand. 

“Have you tried talking to her about it?” Suggested Holly. “Maybe she hasn’t noticed how you feel either.” 

“No.” 

There it was again: Wheelers, masters of not seeing what they saw.

“I’m scared it’s something I never noticed, that she wants to leave, or something,” he continued. “Did you see how Dad looked like he didn’t even give a shit that Mom’s leaving him?” 

Holly met Nancy’s eyes, somehow knowing they were both thinking the same thing. 

“That’s bullshit,” said Nancy. “I agree with you on Dad’s part, but El wanting to leave you? Are you crazy?” 

“She dumped me before.” 

Nancy groaned. “When you were fourteen, Mike! You don’t even want to know what a disease you were when you were that age, I don’t blame her.” 

Holly let out a laugh at the description. “Dis _ease_ ,” she squealed. In retaliation, Mike pushed her off of him and she fell backward, filling her hair with sand. She didn’t mind and laughed at him some more when he crossed his arms and pouted like a moody toddler. 

Eventually she calmed down enough to say, “You’re married now anyway, she decided she didn’t want to dump you ever.” 

Neither of her siblings seemed to have anything else to contribute, so Holly kept talking. “And she’s been obsessed with you since like, forever. I don’t remember a time when she _wasn’t_ your girlfriend.”

Mike decided to join his sisters in lying down on the sand. The sky was pretty that night.

“Thanks,” he said. “I didn’t want to talk about this, but… you guys have helped.” 

With that, a peaceful silence overtook the trio for a few minutes as they gazed at the stars. There was something reassuring in knowing that even if everything else fell apart and changed, the stars were permanent. 

“Hey, actually,” Mike started, making Holly and Nancy look over at him. “What _are_ your earliest memories?” 

Holly wasn’t sure if the thing she thought of was a memory or a dream, so she didn’t answer right away.

Nancy hummed contemplatively. “I think mine is the day you were born,” she responded. “I remember Dad dropping me off at the Smiths next door and getting in the car with Mom, and I was mostly excited about playing with Abby instead of getting a baby brother or sister. He picked me up at night and we went to bed like normal, and then the next morning I know we went to the hospital, but I don’t remember that part.”

“I was clearly too ugly a baby for your brain to want to create a memory,” joked Mike. 

“You’re still ugly,” she retorted, and Holly almost laughed again. _This_ was what having siblings felt like. “What’s yours?” 

“Just an image of the kitchen,” Mike answered. “There’s a jar of jellybeans on top of the microwave and that’s it. After that I think it’s my first day of kindergarten.” 

They both turned to Holly, who stared back at them. “Oh!” She exclaimed. “Um, I’m not sure if it’s a memory or something I made up, actually.” 

“Maybe we’ll remember it too,” Nancy reassured her. 

She couldn’t say why, but Holly was nervous. Something about this particular image in her brain made her feel… off. “It’s this hallway. Brown carpet, brown walls, looks old… And there’s Christmas lights everywhere for some reason?” 

At the mention of the lights, Nancy furrowed her brows, but Holly continued. “I’m walking down and then I’m in a room and it’s full of lamps, and now this is the part that sounds made up.” 

She paused to gauge their reactions. Nancy still looked like she was suspicious of something, and Mike seemed oddly a little _too_ interested. “The wall starts stretching all weird, like something’s trying to come out of it, and I think the lights are going crazy but I can’t remember all of it. I think I used to have nightmares about it.” 

At that, Mike sat up and whipped around to look at Nancy. “Doesn’t that sound like-?” 

Nancy nodded. “And remember that time she woke us up in the middle of the night about-?” 

“Yeah.” 

Holly frowned. “What are you guys talking about?” 

They both turned to look at her. “Do you remember when you were little, you used to be really scared of spiders?” Asked Mike. 

“Yes?” She was still freaked out by spiders to this day. 

“Do you remember why?”

Holly thought hard about it, and stumbled across something else she had forgotten long ago. “... I thought I saw a monster. A spider monster.” 

Her siblings exchanged a look. “You _did_ see it,” Nancy stated. “And this other memory you just told us about… that was another monster.” 

She said it as if it was nothing. As if monsters were real. Holly didn’t know her sister well, but she never thought Nancy was the type to be on drugs. 

“What are you _on?_ Monsters? Seriously?” She burst out. 

“She’s telling the truth,” asserted Mike. “I told you shit happened the week Will went missing. That’s his old house you described.” 

“Both of you are insane.” 

“We’re not!” They protested. “Remember the stories I used to tell you when you were little, about the magic people who banished monsters?” Mike went on. 

Holly crossed her arms. “Don’t tell me those were true, too.” 

“They were,” he insisted. “They’re what happened.” 

He looked too honest to be faking it, and either way everybody knew Mike Wheeler was a horrible liar. Holly decided to believe. “Why have I never heard about this before?” 

“You were too small to be involved,” said Nancy. “And nobody who knows what happened likes talking about it.” 

“It’s also a giant government conspiracy so we’re technically not supposed to talk about it at all,” added Mike. “If you investigate a little, you start to find details that don’t make sense and they’ll shut you up.”

“Who knew you guys were so mysterious?” Holly said jokingly. “Can I know the rest?” 

The two of them shrugged at each other and launched into their story. They had already given themselves away in any case, and Holly had been directly affected even if she barely remembered it. It made her feel proud that they trusted her to keep the secret. 

By the end of it, a bunch more things made sense: why El had always been so quiet and reserved, how come she and her husband were so attached, and all those weird nightmares and strange atmospheres Holly felt as a kid. She never knew Nancy was such a badass, either, or that Mike was actually clever enough to be the mastermind behind more than one spur-of-the-moment attack plan. It gave her a new lens to see her siblings through, and it made her feel closer to them.

It also explained why they’d chosen not to move back to Hawkins after they’d had the chance to get out, and now Holly appreciated the fact that they even visited. She wasn’t sure she’d want to ever see their town again if she’d gone through all of that. As they walked back to the car, Mike’s skinny arms slung around both his sisters, Holly felt grateful they were there. 

“I love you guys,” she said simply. 

“Me too,” said Mike without hesitation. 

“I do too,” added Nancy. “You two can be annoying, but I do miss you sometimes.” 

“Is it weird that I feel close to you after all this? Never thought I’d like having sisters this much.” 

Nancy reached up and slapped the back of Mike’s head and Holly lightly punched him in the side. “Hey!” 

He started to laugh, and Holly was reminded of why she had adored her brother so much in childhood. She was glad they’d made him feel better. 

As for the matter awaiting them at the end of Maple Street… Holly felt much more secure about it. She knew now that her brother and sister weren’t as far removed as they seemed, and that they hadn’t forgotten about her. She could always talk to them if she needed to.

Now, only to convince her sister-in-law to start a career as an extremely talented and mysterious magician…

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: my earliest memory is an image of the kitchen in an apartment i lived in when i was 2 that has a jar of jellybeans on top of the microwave. my mother has corroborated this story
> 
> ALSO I hope y'all enjoyed sibling banter?? we never see it in the show but I think Mike and Nancy are exactly the type of siblings to call the other ugly with no qualms lmaooo their vibes just remind me of me and my middle brother
> 
> something interesting too is that i'm the nancy in my family being the older sister of 3 with a near 12 year gap to the youngest, but my personality is very much mike and it's why he's my favourite character. was cool to project myself into both of them when i was writing this
> 
> uhh hmu on tumblr if you wanna ask me questions?? i recently started being more active there again and i would love to talk to my readers!! it's @urdearestmom :)


End file.
